Western Antagonism about Chinas Development - A Case Study on German Mass Media Reports

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2007 im Fachbereich Politik - Internationale Politik - Region: Ferner Osten, Note: 1,0, Fudan University Shanghai (International Center for Graduate Studies), Veranstaltung: China's Economic Reforms and Their Social and Political Implications, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: China's global influence spreads. Its dynamic development affects our daily life in Western countries. In the past China's economic boom touched daily life in the West most visibly through the 'made-in-China' label on everything from clothes to computers. But in recent years the influence reached a new stage which can't be measured anymore just by widgets and gadgets - developments like decreasing consumer prices for textiles, increasing world market prices for natural resources or an increasing global competition influence our daily life. Therefore, much attention has been paid to Chinas rise. This especially holds true for Western media. Scanning western media reports one can observe strong a certain kind of antagonism about China's development. On one hand, China is pressed for reforms on all fronts. But on the other hand, China's success causes worries and is often described as a 'threat' or 'danger' to the western economy. It is not the fact that China's reforms are criticized, which is striking. Criticism can be an indispensable and valuable tool to accompany a country's development. It is the overall negativity tenor in the critics in mass media that causes worries. This paper asks for reasons for this issue and takes German mass media reports as an example to illustrate the ambivalence of perceptions. Are Germans just unsettled when it comes to China's growth in global economical and political power or is there a certain truth hidden in their perspective?